Introducing the New, Old Big East

With the 'Catholic 7' and Three Newcomers, the Conference Sacks Football to Focus on Basketball

By

Dave Caldwell

Oct. 16, 2013 8:18 p.m. ET

Val Ackerman, the commissioner of the Big East Conference for all of three months, happened to be standing on a pier Wednesday morning when she called herself a "basketball head" in front of several hundred people. Talk about someone ready to take the plunge.

"I was 6-5 when I started," she said, joking. "Now, I'm down to 5-9."

Within one turbulent year, the Big East was thinned to seven Catholic...